Moderator: Lesya Ilchenko-Syuyva, Associate Professor, Economic Policy Department, National Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine
E-mail: lesya@academy.gov.ua

NISPAcee Project Manager:

Call for papers

Policy Analysis Development Issues as Field of Studies and Area of Professional Activities in CEE Countries

 During the last 10-15 years, as a part of public administration reforms, a significant effort has been made to improve decision making within the public sector by developing capacity in policy analysis in CEE, Central Asia and Caucasus counties. The development of policy analysis capacity has to some degree been brought about through technical assistance (TA) provided by international donor organizations.

Among the principal achievements in developing policy capacity in the CEE countries are the following:

• the translation and publication in local languages of manuals on policy analysis;
• the training of lecturers and trainers in policy analysis within TA projects;
• the development and launch of basic courses in policy analysis in educational institutions;
• the development and establishment of specialized or concentrated academic programs in policy analysis (for example, the specialization in Policy Analysis within the MPA program in the NAPA in Ukraine);
• the development of training courses for in-service training of public servants;
• the adoption of procedures within governments based on elements of policy analysis in some of the mentioned above countries, namely by the implementation of procedures for drafting policy papers as an instrument of decision making;
• the reform of government institutions, particularly at the centers of government, that put in place and implement policy analysis within government;
• the development of policy networks within government in which policy analysts in ministries may work together to put forward policy proposals.

Although this potential does not have enough energy for further development without donor assistance in the majority of those countries. Thus implementation of policy analysis tools slowed down. In this context it is proposed to analyze which factors restrict further development of policy analysis, who are potential stakeholders of policy analysis, how current stage of policy analysis in a particular country impacts on economic, social and political environment, how those challenges can be overcome.

Among the issues that we have considered for discussion in the working group are:

- the present and potential use in governments and state administrations of policy analysis

- the stakeholders for policy analysis and how they use it:

- the extent to which policy analysis in a particular country impacts on its economic, social and political environment,

- approaches adopted in various countries to the teaching of policy;

- factors affecting positively or negatively the further development of policy analysis;

- the challenges for further development and use of policy analysis.

Such a focus could lead contributors to prepare papers that could form a book of case studies, covering especially the following areas:

- best practices in the implementation of policy analysis procedures in day-to-day activity of the government on different levels, problems faced and perspectives for improvement;

- policy papers as decision making tools;

- the further development of academic programs and training courses in policy analysis: for example, exchange programs involving students, lecturers, researchers, and the possibility of developing standard curricula and syllabuses for policy analysis courses.

Contributors are encouraged to send their abstracts (3600 characters max) and CVs to the following e-mail addresses:

David C. Elder David.Elder@queensu.ca

Valerij Tertychka vtertychka@yahoo.com

Lesya Ilchenko-Syuyva lesya@academy.gov.ua

Deadline for applications: January 19, 2009

Speakers:

David Amborski, Professor, School of Urban and Regional Planning, Ryerson UniversityToronto, Canada
Topic: Tri-Sector Priority Setting, Government, Community, and Business, for Local/Regional Government Policy

David C. Elder, Adjunct Professor and Fellow, School of Policy Studies Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Topic: Formulating Public Policies: Assessing the effect on actors.

Oleksandr Kiliievych, Associate Professor, Economic Policy Department, National Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukraine
Topic: Policy Analysis in Globalized Environment

Leslie A. Pal, Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Director, Centre for Governance and Public Management, Chancellor's Professor School of Public Policy and Administration
CarletonUniversityOttawa, Ontario, Canada
Topic: Policy Analysis at the Cutting Edge: What's New?

Brian Tutt, Department of Law, Governance and International Relations, London Metropolitan University, UK
Topic: Policy Analysis: Recent Trends in Teaching and Practice